Ramoche Temple

The Ramoche Temple ( Tib: ra mo che dgon pa) is one of the most important temples of Tibetan Buddhism. It is located in the old city of Lhasa, capital of Tibet Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China.

Genesis

The Ramoche temple was built in the eighth century for the Shakyamuni statue Jowo Mikyö Dorje (Tib.: jo bo rdo rje mi bskyod ) built by King Songtsen Gampo's Chinese bride brought Wen Cheng in the 7th century AD to Tibet. This statue represents Sakyamuni represents the age of eight years and after the death of Songtsen Gampo, the main sanctuary of the Jokhang temple; in Ramoche Temple Aksobhya the bronze statue Jowo Yishin Norbu (Tibetan: jo bo yid bzhin nor bu) placed the Songtsen Gambos to have brought Nepalese bride Bhrikuti to Tibet and was originally located in the Jokhang Temple. According to a report by the 5th Dalai Lama of Ramoche temple to have been built before the Jokhang Temple. However, the building you can see today probably dates from the 17th century.

History of the temple from the 9th century AD

With the decline of Buddhism in the 9th century fell also the Ramoche Temple. In 1474 he was consecrated as " Upper Tantric Faculty ". The temple and the famous Buddha statue were heavily damaged during the Chinese Cultural Revolution. In the great temple hall was until February 1985 only a huge portrait of Mao Zedong. The monks' quarters were converted into apartments for families. After the fall of the "Gang of Four " Lamas found the lower part of the statue randomly in a scrap - collection point, and the end of 1982 were government officials of the Tibet Autonomous Region in the Palace Museum ( Forbidden City ) in Beijing the upper part of the statue at the end there after the the Cultural Revolution had been spent. The statue was re-assembled under the supervision of the 10th Panchen Lama or reconstructed and re- opened in 1985.

Meaning of the name

One explanation is that the Tibetan name ' Ra - mo-che ' "big goat " means. This is based on a legend according to which a goat had helped to fill a lake and dry out, which is said to have originally been at the site of the present temple.

Indeed, in explaining the meaning of words is taken into account that the old name of Lhasa (Tibetan: Ra -sa ) " enclosed space goat " was and ' Ramoche ' should therefore have nothing further referred to as a large goat pasture.

The Chinese name of the Ramoche Temple, ' Xiǎozhāo Sì '小昭寺, provides a close connection with the Jokhang Temple, Chinese ' Dazhao Sì '大昭寺, ago. The word ' Zhao '昭here is a phonological transcription of the Tibetan ' Jowo ' (Tib.: jo bo, "Lord" ) and is a term of the Tathagata; So the two temples are called in Chinese Small or Large Tathagata Temple.

Today's inventory of the temple

In the assembly hall there are 27 lion statues. In a showcase statues are erected by Tsongkhapa and his main disciples. There are statues of the three deities Guhyasamaja Medicine, Chakrasamvara and Bhairab On the left wall. Upstairs there is a chapel, is shown in the Buddha as the Naga King, surrounded by 16 ways; in another chapel representations of the eight Medicine Buddhas and a copy of the Kanjur are ( Tib: bka '' gyur ), the first part of the Tibetan canon, which contains writings with the words of the Buddha.

The Ramoche temple stands on the list of monuments of the People's Republic of China ( 5-411 ) since 2001.